On the Lakefront

Saturday, April 2, 2011

We've been on Spring Break the past week, not that you'd know it by the weather. I don't think it's been above 45 all week! But here's a quick recap. 1. We got a new car!!! We traded in Chris' truck, which wasn't extended cab (meaning there was no way for a car seat to go in there) and got a 2010 Pontiac G6. It's silver and sporty and best of all.... now we have 2 vehicles in which we can take Zach! Plus, this way Chris can now pick up Zach from day care when I get held up at work (more on that later). 2. Zach got his 3rd hair cut. He still hates it... screams, cries, snot flies; overall it's not a pretty process. I'm toying with the idea of either A.) just letting his curls grow and politely correcting people when they think he's a girl, or B.) cutting it in his sleep and trying to keep it even. Somehow I don't think Chris will go for either of those ideas, so we'll be back to Great Clips in another month or so... 3. We took Zach and Kaylan to Chuck E. Cheese. They loved it. I remember it as being more fun and less work when I was a kid. I suppose that's the story of parenthood... 4. So right before we went on break, I had a big meeting at work with our superintendant, assistant superintendant, principal, and director of technology to discuss expanding my alternative program. This is my 5th year since I started the program with little more than a vague of idea of what I should be doing. In those 5 years, I've helped over 100 kids earn their diploma - and in all honesty I'd say that 90+ wouldn't have finished school otherwise. What I've found is that many of them are behind academically which makes traditional school frustrating, but I've also had many with mental illness (like anxiety disorder, depression, bipolar disorder, etc.) that make school almost impossible, and then there's a whole group that just have the worst home lives imaginable. The result of our big pow-wow was that they want to double the number of students enrolled and hire another person to facilitate those students in another classroom. We're also looking at offering a special class 3 days a week in the evenings, taught by a part time instructional assistant, for adults that have previously dropped out. While I'll still be in the classroom most of the time, I'll have more of an administrative role in terms of selecting students for admission, paperwork, discipline, etc. I'm excited about the opportunity, especially since they're pretty much giving me free reign on how I want to set everything up! So keep your fingers crossed for me, since I'll spend the rest of this year doing organizational stuff - and we'll start next year!

Sunday, March 13, 2011

Zach spent a whole day with Heidi (Aunt Didi) and Kaylan recently. He had so much fun that every time we get in the car now, he asks "Go Didi and Kay?". Wal-Mart just isn't interesting anymore, unless his favorite aunt and baby cousin are coming along.

The whole thing got me thinking about how they are as different as night and day. Not just in appearance either, although if you saw them side by side you'd never think they're related. Kaylan is petite, with a peaches and cream complexion, blond hair, and blue eyes. Zach is off the charts tall for his age group, with dark hair and big brown eyes. Even though there's only 3 months and 1 day between them, he's easily a whole head taller than her.

They like - no, they LOVE to play together. And in a lot of ways, their differences help them to have more fun together. For example...

Zach enjoys being dirty. I don't know if that's because he's a boy, or if he just likes to dig right in to everything he encounters. But the kid isn't the slightest put off about being messy.

Kaylan, on the other hand, HATES being dirty. This is her after she stuck 2 fingers into her birthday cake and started crying. She wanted no part of it. If she gets anything on her hands, she runs to her mommy and says "no dirty". She's also a good sleeper, which is something I've never been able to say about Zach. Although, he has recently been sleeping much better... which is nice, because it means I get to sleep better!

Despite their differences, I think the one thing they have the most in common is that they're adorable! Here they are in our double wagon at Brown County State Park. They're supposed to be checking out the ponies... Kaylan kept barking at them because she thought they were giant dogs. Zach was a little wary of them until he saw that she wasn't scared. Their little personalities, despite all the differences, really compliment each other.

They're just very funny together. Since I'm not teaching summer school this summer (something I've done the past 6 of 7 years - the only time I didn't is when I had Zach), we've got big plans for the two of them. And I don't think either of them will mind one bit!

Saturday, February 12, 2011

There was a time when Chris and I were worried that Zach's speech might be a little delayed. The 8 ear infections in 8 months before he got his tubes made us wonder how much he was actually hearing, because of all the pressure in his ears. We were silly to worry though; the little man talks non-stop and pretty clearly. In fact, his sitter told us yesterday that she understands him better than the 2 and 2 and a half year olds! Since he's only 18 months, I felt like this was a good compliment.

There are a lot of words he can say, but I think the most important thing is that he uses them in context and he strings them into sentences. When he's finished eating, he says "All done". When he's peed, he says "I pee" and when he's pooped he says "I poo". He just recently started saying "I like it" and "I no like it" for things. Chris taught him to say "Hey baby" to girls, and let's just say Zach doesn't discriminate. When we went to breakfast at Cow Palace the other day, all of the nice blue-haired octagenarians got a "Hey baby" as we were leaving, along with a wave. And I know what you're probably thinking... all parents can understand what their kids are trying to say, but to everyone else it's gibberish. Sometimes the things he says are a little bit on the gibberish-y side, but for the most part it's clear. Mr. Gray would say he enunciates well. When my dad was over the other day, he asked me if Zach really just said "oh, man" and "that's cool" when they were playing with their trucks...

I think now we have to start worrying about what he's going say next. Heidi said that Kaylan recently started saying "crap".... in context, nonetheless!

(This was right after his first haircut, and we took him to Olive Garden. His shirt says 'Lock up your daughters')